Turkey Appoints New Procurement Chief

Apr. 14, 2014 - 03:45AM
|

Ismail Demir (THY Teknik)

ANKARA — The Turkish government has appointed an aviation expert as new chief official for defense procurement, according to a government decree.

Ismail Demir is taking over from Murad Bayar as head of the powerful Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM). Bayar had been removed from office March 28 and appointed as chief adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Before being appointed as the new undersecretary for procurement, Demir was the general manager of THY Teknik, the maintenance subsidiary of Turkey’s national carrier Turkish Airlines.

The 54-year-old professor holds a degree in aviation engineering from the Istanbul Technical University. He earned his post-graduate degrees from US universities.

Between 1992 and 2003 he worked at numerous universities and science institutions in the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia. He joined THY Teknik in 2003 and became its general manager in 2006.

In March, THY Teknik and military electronics specialist Aselsan, Turkey’s biggest defense firm, signed a cooperation agreement to jointly work on electronic warfare suites, electronic intelligence systems and integration of radars to military aircraft. ■